If I want to get anywhere with this thing I really need to get better at snappy-but-relevant subject lines, don’t I?
It’s common when you haven’t been heard from for a while to claim “I’m not dead!” or “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!” and I’m not sure if those are currently grossly inappropriate adages, or more appropriate than ever.
Well hello, I’m not dead, and I’m not inactive either. I’ve been splitting my time between whatever the work-from-home dayjob requires of me (ooh, cryptic!), embracing the Jericho Writers Summer Festival of Writing (Livestream Edition) and absolutely blitzing the main editorial pass of 500ish Days In The Quiet Room (something else in brackets).
This has generally meant scribbling out huge chunks of gibberish and scribbling in huge chunks of not-gibberish, and working with truly worrying sheets of notes like the above.
I’ve had some big and good ideas, principally about swapping out footnotes for interjections and running commentary, leaving empty days out of the final text, and breaking the whole thing up into thematic sections.
It’s set to look less like a technical account of a fixed calendar of events, more like a dialogue between two voices reflecting on key moments and revelations. That still sounds wonderfully vague but what it boils down to is this- 500ish Days In the Quiet Room is going to be more enjoyable to read than the original plan would have had it.
All Better Now? is a different beast entirely. Whilst I’m enjoying the exciting new development of adding a question mark to the title, I’m struggling with the body of the text because half of me wants to write direct self-help advice and the other half wants to keep it observational. It was never my intention to give advice with either book, only information and personal experience, but maybe that sort of guidance bleeds through in this genre and is unavoidable.
What I do know is that this drive to feel like I’m working towards something and giving something on my platforms can only be fixed by getting both books finished and done. Otherwise for now when you tap the side of this community it rings out like an empty vessel.
Yeah.
I hope you are well.
Nick
Xx
P.S This month I also removed a chunk of low quality videos from both my YouTube channels based on the criteria of “Is it what you want the world to see from you?” So many of those little speeches and sketches answered the question with a resounding “No.” that I almost feel inclined to make a video about the process itself.
P.P.S. Remember that as a member of this community, only you will get the opportunity to pick up 500ish Days In The Quiet Room at a scarily low introductory price, and after launch only you will get a digital copy of the companion collection All Better Now for absolutely free!